The hosts and favourites looked incoherent and lacking in ideas at times and the ruthless Kiwis took full advantage on the scoreboard, running in five tries to two.
The Kangaroos took the lead twice in the first half through Beau Scott and Greg Inglis but were pegged back on each occasion thanks to four-pointers from Kevin Proctor and Lewis Brown, to leave the game tied at 12-12 at the break.
It was all New Zealand in the second half, as almost every raid the team in black embarked on seemed to cause major problems for Australia, and tries from the brilliant Shaun Johnson, Dean Whare and Jason Nightingale secured an emphatic result.
The loss of Daly Cherry-Evans to a hip injury late in the first half and Inglis' failure to return after the break due to a virus didn't help the Kangaroos' cause but the Kiwis were clearly the better side.
Australia settled any early nerves with a try from their first attack, with Scott strolling over after being fed a peach of a pass by Cooper Cronk.
New Zealand looked to have struck back when Jason Nightingale dived over in the corner but replays showed he had dropped the ball centimetres from the ground and the video referee ruled no try.
The Kiwis continued to batter through the middle and eventually their persistence paid off when second-rower Proctor ploughed over despite the attentions of four Australian defenders.
Crowd favourite Inglis dived out of dummy half to put the Kangaroos ahead once more, before Cameron Smith converted to take his personal tally in Tests to 100 points.
Proctor crashed over again down the other end but the final pass from Shaun Johnson had been forward and the try didn't stand.
New Zealand were back knocking on the door soon after, however, and Brown went on an angled run through the defensive line to score his side’s second try.
Johnson put the visitors ahead for the first time in the match seven minutes into the second half when his grubber kick pinballed off two Kangaroos players before he regathered and crashed through Dylan Walker to score a superb try.
The New Zealand bombardment continued with Whare leaping highest to latch on to a Kieran Foran crossfield kick before spinning through a tackle to touch down over the line.
The game could have been put beyond Australia’s reach when Gerard Beale crossed, but the try was disallowed by the video referee as Jason Taumalolo was adjudged to have shoulder charged Cooper Cronk in the build up.
With 12 minutes remaining a Walker error allowed the Kiwis to put the final nail in the coffin, as the centre spilled a spiralling Johnson bomb and the ball was spread wide to the winger, who galloped over in the corner with no cover defence in front of him.
Australia 12
Tries: Scott, Inglis
Goals: Smith 2
New Zealand 30
Tries: Proctor, Brown, Johnson, Whare, Nightingale
Goals: Johnson 5
Crowd at Suncorp Stadium: 47, 813